8 Incredible Facts About Russia

Russia has been on the spotlight lately with the Sochi Winter Olympics, the ownership of Crimea, and just recently, the allegations of its involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Russia is not just one of the biggest landmasses in the world; it is also one of the biggest economies in the world.

There are many other facts about Russia that might surprise you, including:

Russia’s surface area is just a bit bigger than Pluto. Russia’s surface area is 17 million KM2, while Pluto’s is 16.6 million KM2.

Russia has a network of pipelines for gas, oil, water, and other refined products that extend a long 259,913, which is enough to loop around the world six times over.

Russia holds 695 tonnes worth of highly enriched uranium (HEU), which is half of the total HEU stockpile all over the world. Meanwhile, the US comes second to Russia with 604 tonnes.

Russia’s population decreased by 6.6 million since 1993. Russia’s population is expected to slope down further 10.7 percent to 126 million come 2050 from 2010’s 141.9 million.

The Adler-Krasnaya Polyana, which is where most of the Sochi Winter Olympics event was held, could have cost a lot less than $8.6 billion if foie gras was used to pave the entire road.

Russia has the second biggest natural gas reserve in the world with 1,163 trillion cubic feet.

Russia used to have 11 time zones, now it was cut to 9 to address transportation and communication issues. Still, Russia has the most time zones in the world.

Russia has an oil reserve that would amount to 87 billion barrels, enough to sustain it for 75 more years.